Masonry In Oneonta

It is a distinct pleasure to greet you here in the Masonic Lodge Temple of Oneonta. Local Masonry has not always been located in this building. The early history of the area relates, that when the first lodge was chartered, the community was called McDonald’s Mills. The tiny hamlet contained about a dozen houses and perhaps sixty inhabitants. In September of 1814 the first petition to the Grand Lodge of New York was presented to organize a lodge of Freemasons. On December 19, 1814, a Charter signed by M.W. DeWitt Clinton, Grand Master, was issued for Milford Lodge No.238. The Charter called for a lodge, to be located in the south part of the town of Milford." Most of the territory now included in the City of Oneonta was then in Milford township. The first Master of the Lodge was Philo Andrews. In those days, especially in small towns, lodge meetings were generally held in taverns since only there could a room large enough to hold meetings be found.